DOCTORS have so little room to work at Cranleigh Health Centre that they have run out of space to store medical records.

As a result, they are seeking permission from Waverley Borough Council to install a portable building next to the centre for the next two years.

That is the time they anticipate it will take to obtain new premises. Draft plans have been displayed at the health centre, but no application for planning permission has yet been submitted.

The doctors, who care for 15,000 residents of Cranleigh and the surrounding area, say they urgently need to increase accommodation for administrative and support staff. By storing medical records in the portable building, they say space will be freed up for essential support work such as prescription monitoring, hospital liaison and patient care audit work.

The temporary building would be sited on health service-owned land next to the health centre and adjacent to the footpath between the centre and the library. It has long been acknowledged that the current health centre is inadequate for its purpose. Designed for four GPs, it now accommodates around 10, together with extended ancillary and nursing staff.

Cranleigh Parish Council’s planning surveillance committee, meeting last week, raised no objection to the proposal on the understanding that it is for a maximum of two years and that Waverley strictly enforces that condition. However, parish councillors felt the portable building could be located in a better position on the health centre site and has requested that this is reconsidered, particularly with regard to the loss of car parking spaces that would result.

In its observations, submitted to Waverley, it states: “The parish council is aware of the longstanding and serious problems of parking at the health centre and regular complaints of residents, the library and other businesses that have the right of access through the car park to their own premises.”

This, says the parish council, could be worsened by the proposed location of the temporary building, which is why it has requested the medical practice to consider an alternative position to ensure sufficient parking spaces are provided for staff and delivery vehicles.

The doctors, who sparked controversy when they pulled out of the project to build a combined hospital and health centre for Cranleigh, have yet to announce when and how they will go ahead with the draft plans for a new, stand-alone health centre they displayed last summer, or where it will be built.

Talks brokered by Anne Milton MP have taken place between the doctors and Cranleigh Village Hospital Trust in a bid to heal the rift between the two sides. After the first meeting early last month, described by Mrs Milton as “useful and positive”, she added: “Every body wants to ensure that local residents and patients get the best possible healthcare in Cranleigh.”